


with no ifs and buts in between

by achuhinas



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Accidental Confession, Alternate Universe - Art School, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Roommates/Housemates, Cuddling, Fluff, Hinata Shouyou is a Little Shit, Hugging, M/M, Theyre aged up here, Truth Serum, chaging povs, ish, mentions of alcohol and questionable substances, there are mentions of it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-28
Updated: 2020-09-28
Packaged: 2021-03-07 22:28:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,386
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26695273
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/achuhinas/pseuds/achuhinas
Summary: In which Hinata Shouyou, struggling art student, is called over by his senpai to pick up his roommate who may or may not have, like the idiot he is, drank juice spiked with some sort of truth serum.... and here he thought he was in for the same old Friday night of endless cramming
Relationships: Hinata Shouyou/Kageyama Tobio
Comments: 3
Kudos: 119





	with no ifs and buts in between

Hinata was tired. There was a cramp on his back reminding him of how awfully he’s been sitting the past four hours. His eyelids were heavy, begging him to sleep after he’d only gotten two hours of sleep the night before.

He feels frustration bubbling just beneath his skin as he eyes the painting he’s been working on for one of his classes. There was something missing to it. To an outsider, it might look finished but Hinata knows to himself that there was something missing. It felt like staring straight into empty eyes.

Hinata sighed, running a hand through his rumpled mess of hair. A quick glance at the time told him it was 1 am, he wouldn’t have enough time to finish the painting if he re-did it now. 

Resolving to continue tweaking his current painting to at least make it look presentable, he reached for the cup of coffee that lay abandoned on his desk. It was empty, unusually light for a mug that he’s sure was half-filled with coffee just thirty minutes ago. 

He wanted to scream, its like everything that could go wrong with anything related to university was going wrong this week. He’s tired and had been overworking these past few days to reach deadlines before the beginning of their end term exams.

Instead of screaming, he opted to grab a hoodie and make his way to the door of his dorm room. _Might as well take a walk and buy some coffee,_ he thinks as he hurries to the door in his desperation to leave the confines of his room.

He checked twice to make sure that he has his keys with him. He’d have to lock the door knowing that his roommate was dragged by their friends to a party — one that Hinata wasn’t able to attend because of his stupid, stupid deadlines — and probably won’t be home for another few hours.

☽

The nearest convenience store was just around the corner of their street. Hinata was pretty sure that it’s a gift from God to all sleep-deprived, deadline chasing, and midnight coffee buying college students like him… or of course, it could just be the product of greedy capitalists taking advantage of the tendencies of students like him to flock convenience stores for cheap coffee. 

(Really, either way, it works for Hinata as long as he gets his fill of coffee.)

There was barely any signs of life in the convenience store when he enters aside from the half-snort-and-half-snores coming from the cashier who looked like he was already halfway on the way to dreamland.

He’d noticed that his stomach wouldn’t stop growling out throughout his walk to the store and he realized that he hadn’t eaten anything since lunch so he was going through the store’s instant ramen section. That was when he got the call from Sugawara. 

“Hello, senpai?” Hinata asked as he picked up a pack of ramen from the shelf with his empty hand. Should he get beef or seafood?

“I was wondering if you could take Kageyama back to your dorm,” Sugawara said, voice raised against the loud music behind him. He seemed to have moved to a more secluded area because the music tapered off and when he spoke again, it was back to its usual softness. 

“I’d do it myself but no one would be left to keep watch of Tanaka and Nishinoya if I do.” Hinata processed this information, so many of the others also didn’t make it to the party, huh?

He thought back to the painting he left behind in his dorm. It still needed tweaking but he _really_ needs a breather from it right now. 

“Uh, sure, senpai. I’m on the way there.” Hinata hears the other man sigh in relief in the other side of the line who gave one last ‘thank you’ before ending the call.

Hinata bought two of the spicy beef-flavored instant ramen and then started making his way to the direction that he was told was the direction of the party. 

☽

_Kageyama is not drunk._ That’s the first thing Hinata noticed as he arrived at the party to see his roommate sitting on the sidewalk just outside the frat house. Kageyama looked normal for the most part aside from how he’s awkwardly clutching his head. 

After almost two years of rooming together and seeing each other shitfaced-drunk, Hinata was pretty sure that he has all of Kageyama’s tells all memorized. Which, now that he thinks about it, may just be because he stares at Kageyama far too often to be considered normal. 

He’s not creepy or anything. He swears.

_‘It’s just that Kageyama’s an enigma_ ’ Hinata chuckles at the accidental rhyme as he thinks it. Kageyama’s direct and honest but sometimes his words say one thing while his actions say the other _._ He’s confusing and frustrating and so, so hard to read.

Hinata thinks back to a particular week-long art slump he’d fallen into a few months ago. By the seventh day, Kageyama had gotten tired of his mopping, called him a loser for letting a measly slump get the most of him, and then dragged him to the nearest art museum. 

If Hinata was being honest, visiting the museum didn’t really help. But the cat cafe they visited afterward did relieve some of his stress, though.

Anyway, Kageyama has his tells when he’s drunk. First of all, his words slur together—

“What are you doing here?” Kageyama called out loud and clear before clutching his head in pain. Then he attempts to stand up and make his way to Hinata but fails when he seems to be unable to find his sense of balance.

That was his second tell, Kageyama never sways when he’s drunk. He’s usually just standing still with an expression that’s completely devoid of emotion. Nishinoya once pointed out that his blank-faced stare somehow becomes ten times scarier when he’s drunk. 

In conclusion, this fumbling Kageyama filled with impatient frustration — who reminds Hinata of a newborn giraffe attempting to stand for the first time — is not, in fact, drunk. _Cute but most definitely not drunk._

Hinata wonders what might be wrong with his roommate for Sugawara to call him over. 

“Hinata!” He turns to Sugawara who was making his way out of the house. The older man spares a worried glance at Kageyama’s direction before turning his attention to Hinata.

“What happened?” Hinata asked, worry showing through his knitted eyebrows. 

Sugawara sighs and Hinata relaxes a bit when he noticed the underlying exasperation beneath it. That must mean that it isn’t anything bad, right?

“Noya and Tanaka challenged him to this Russian roulette of drinks. He refused to join at first but he gave in when they got Tsukkishima to challenge him. One of the drinks was spiked with some kind of truth serum, apparently. He started getting dizzy and developed a headache right after. He can’t even stand straight now.” Sugawara said, looking progressively guilty. He knew that he should’ve stopped this when he heard about the involvement of some shady truth serum. 

“Ah,” Hinata paused to cast another glance on Kageyama who’d given up on trying to stand and flopped himself back down on the sidewalk pavement. 

“I’ll make sure to bring home in one piece. You go take care of the others, senpai.” Hinata did his best to give Sugawara his most reassuring smile. 

The taller man smiled and ruffled his hair, uttering other thanks before rushing back inside where the rest of their friends. Even through the loud music, Hinata can hear the sound of glass breaking and cheering coming from somewhere within the house. 

He gives a silent prayer for his senpai’s sanity. Then, he turns to Kageyama who was still grumbling under his breath as he clutches his head in pain 

“Let’s go, you tall idiot,” Hinata said, sticking his tongue out at his roommate’s glare. 

Kageyama tries to stand again, slow and careful. The dizziness still hits him with full force, though, and his knees would’ve buckled if it weren’t for Hinata reaching out to steady him. 

Hinata makes a mental note to make fun of his roommate’s current predicament at a later date. Probably when he isn’t struggling to hold up all 182 centimeters of Kageyama’s height. He sighs, this was going to be a long walk back. 

☽

Hinata almost cries in relief when he manages to open the door to their dorm with only one hand. It took them twice the time than usual to walk back to the dorms and the elevator had, in the time it took for Hinata to leave and get back, been put under maintenance so they had to use the stairs to the fifth floor. 

  
  


"I don’t need your help" Kageyama mumbles as he detaches himself from Hinata the moment they enter their dorm. He tries to walk, takes one step in front of the other, and then fumbles. 

He didn’t seem as disoriented as before, though, Hinata notes. The truth serum or whatever it was that made Kageyama like this is probably wearing off by now. 

“Oh, don’t you really?” Hinata says, trying to keep his laugh from escaping as he watches his bleary-eyed roommate attempt to walk properly to the bathroom. 

Kageyama pauses at that. He makes a sound like he’s struggling to keep himself from speaking and his face scrunches up in the effort. Then, all at once, he blurts out: “No, I need you.” 

That stops Hinata on his heels. He didn’t expect his roommate to say something like that and he most definitely did not expect his heart to skip a beat. _Oh my god._

There was a moment of silence. Hinata tries to find it in him to speak. _Say something,_ he urged himself but nothing seemed to come out of his mouth and his brain couldn’t be bothered to stay coherent enough for at least one second so he can string together a few words into a sentence. Kageyama seemed to process everything faster and rushed to the bathroom, locking himself inside.

_What… What was that?_

His pulse was rising for some incomprehensible reason and he was pretty sure that his cheeks were on fire. Hinata felt hot and cold at the same time — like someone had decided to surround him with fire and then dunk him in a pool filled with cold, no, _freezing_ water. He didn’t understand why just three simple words from Kageyama can affect him like this. 

Sure, his roommate wasn’t the type to say things like that and he’d always get caught off guard when Kageyama _does_ say something remotely nice. But this was… different. At least, it felt different to Hinata. 

He sighs, debating whether or not he should knock. On one hand, he wants to make sure that Kageyama’s okay and hasn’t passed out in the bathroom from his mysterious illness. On the other, though, he isn’t exactly sure if he could face the other man yet — not while he’s still a flustered mess. 

It takes about a minute of weighing both options before he approaches the bathroom door. When he knocks, it’s soft and tentative and goes against his instincts which are currently screaming at him to _run_. 

He knows that in hindsight, this would seem like a small insignificant moment in his life and that he shouldn’t really be freaking out like this. But it’s not like he can control his panicking brain right now so future-him will just have to deal with it, thank you very much. 

“I’m going to cook instant ramen in the kitchen, do you want me to make some for you too?” He says, trying hard to hide how flustered he is. 

Admittedly, a part of him wants Kageyama to say no just so he’ll have time to compose himself. He quickly squashes that part out, though. Flustered or not, Kageyama’s sick and _dammit_ Hinata isn't going to be a bad roommate by not taking care of him.

He hears the sound of splashing water before a voice answers, “Yeah, sure.”

He expected that to be the end of it and was about to make his way to leave the room when Kageyama’s voice added, “You go first. I’ll follow you soon.” to which he responds with a quick okay and practically _dashes_ out of the room. 

☽

When he gets to their building’s kitchen, he notes how he’s lucky he already had the plastic with the instant ramen in his hands because he wasn’t up for embarrassing himself even more by returning to the dorm room for it. 

He quickly set up the supplies he’ll need including four pieces of eggs and a stalk of green onion he’d stolen from Asahi’s vegetable drawer. He hums an upbeat tune he’d heard from the radio as he boils the two packets of instant ramen he’d bought earlier and chopped the green onion into smaller pieces.

Hinata already set up two big bowls of ramen on the counter by the time Kageyama shuffles into the kitchen, still patting his hair dry from a bath he must’ve taken after Hinata left. 

Kageyama sits on the barstool across Hinata and eyes the ramen. It’s a habit he’d developed through two years of Hinata’s random bouts of attempting to cook and presenting him with either undercooked or overcooked food. This one actually looks decent — probably less because of Hinata actually improving in cooking and more because no one can go too wrong with instant ramen. 

“Hey! Is my cooking really that bad?” Hinata said when he noticed Kageyama eyeing the food warily, sticking his tongue out. The taller man takes a bite on the noodles and pretends to contemplate.

“Hmm, no, your cooking wasn’t really that bad in the first place” Clearly, that wasn’t what he meant to say because Kageyama’s eyes widened into saucers and he once again looked like he was ready to bolt. 

The ticking of the clock at the end of the hallway can be heard loud and clear in the ensuing silence. Then Kageyama clears his throat and damn near buries his face in his soup as he stuffs his face with the noodles. 

“You know… you’re being extra-honest today,” Hinata says followed by a snort as Kageyama nearly chokes on his noodles. 

“I think,” Kageyama paused to drink the glass of water passed to him “...the stupid truth serum worked. I can’t lie.” 

Hinata stared at him for one moment and then another and another until the other man seemed ready to snap at him. 

“HA! That means you DO like my cooking then!” Hinata punched the air in glee. He knew Kageyama was just lying to him when the other says that his taste buds must be awful for him to think that the food was good.

Kageyama cursed under his breath, absolutely dreading the possible barrage of food to be sent to him in the future. He's glad that Hinata seemed to have forgotten about the incident in the dorm room earlier, though, or was at least considerate enough not to mention it. 

“If the serum thing does work then: what’s your favorite color?” Hinata asked, eyeing the other man. 

“Orange,” Kageyama finally answers, breathless, after a few seconds of silent struggle. “I really can’t lie.” He adds with a growl of frustration. 

Hinata chooses not to reply, letting Kageyama be with his thoughts for a while. Only the sounds of noodles being slurped and the odd car or two passing by can be heard in their silent accompaniment.

  
This was one of the things that Hinata loves so much when he’s spending time with Kageyama. Every moment doesn’t have to be filled with talking... or anything, really. They could probably spend hours just sitting beside each other while surrounded by comforting silence. 

Sure, Hinata was loud — _of course, he knows that especially when Tsukkishima and Kageyama never stop reminding him_ — but there are times when he wants nothing other than to sit silently in the company of someone else. Truth be told, Kageyama is probably the only person who doesn’t make Hinata feel like he needs to surround the space with talking and laughter. Spending time with the taller man meant that they could just… co-exist. Like they could just be Hinata and Kageyama with no _ifs_ and _buts_ in between. 

“Thanks for the food by the way… and for helping me get back,” Kageyama says after they’d finished washing the dishes, cheeks flaring up with dark red. Hinata looks up from where he’d been placing their bowls back into the cupboards, but the other looks away. Ginger eyes fail in their attempt to meet dark blue ones. 

He gives a bright smile despite the other’s sudden yet apparent shyness. 

“It’s no pro—” 

“How about I buy ice cream tomorrow?” Kageyama, not willing to let anyone do anything for him without any sort of payment, cuts off before the ginger-haired boy can even finish speaking. 

“Aww, you’re taking me on a date?” Hinata says and it was meant to be a joke — A harmless thing that he was used to saying to Kageyama during rare moments when the other invites Hinata to check out a new restaurant or some well-known cafe. For a second there, he’d forgotten about why he’d needed to bring Kageyama home, that the other had been under some sort of influence that left him spilling only truths. 

His eyes widened and he sputtered, trying to take back the statement. _Nevermind, I didn’t mean to ask, I’m sorry._ But it was too late, Kageyama had heard the question.

All too suddenly the cheerful atmosphere that had enveloped them earlier had disappeared. Kageyama’s shoulders tensed and his eyebrows knitted together as he struggled with the answer. Hinata wondered, in the measly seconds in between his question and Kageyama’s response, what answer he wanted to get.

“Shit… Dammit… yes! Fine, ok, yes I want to take you out on a date.” Kageyama sputtered out, attempting to fight it until the end. He hated being put on the spot like this and he can’t even be mad at Hinata for it because the smaller man seemed genuinely apologetic.

Kageyama expects rejection. Though, knowing Hinata, it’ll be a soft one, at least. The smaller man would probably apologize non-stop. As if it was his fault that Kageyama fell for him… well maybe it kinda is, with his bright smile and even brighter laughter and his unwavering concern for Kageyama despite the other’s best efforts to shake him away. 

But the apologies never came. The rejection never did either. 

Instead, he feels weight crashing into him. Suddenly, he’s enveloped in Hinata’s all-encompassing warmth. It makes him feel lightheaded yet the arms around his torso make him feel grounded at the same time. Their bodies were pressed together closely — ‘ _but not close enough’,_ the part of his brain that wasn’t busy short-circuiting replies. 

So he pulls the other man closer until both of them can't breathe with how tightly they’re holding each other. Then he buries his face in soft ginger locks, the way he’d always thought of doing. 

Beneath him, Hinata giggles and Kageyama is so close that he can feel the rumble on Hinata’s chest as he does. 

There, under the dim light of the dormitory kitchen, Kageyama realizes for the first time (but never the last) just how deeply he’s fallen.

☽

Later, when they’ve finally untangled themselves enough to walk up to their room, they hold each other tightly again under the covers of Kageyama’s bed. It was like a switch was flipped because suddenly, they’ve developed this urge to make up for all the days, weeks, months, and years that they haven’t spent touching in any form. 

Hinata was piled half on top of him, his ginger hair spilling onto Kageyama’s chest. He looks up, looking suddenly contemplative, “I love you. I just realized we haven’t said it yet.”

Kageyama hums in response, “yeah? Well, I love me too.”

“Corny.” The smaller man wrinkles his nose and sticks his tongue out in a gesture that’s entirely too cute for Kageyama’s gay heart. 

“Fine, I love you too, idiot.” and Kageyama would say it again and again if it meant that he could get Hinata to smile like that. 


End file.
